Romania received 108 billion euro from the European Union and contributed 36 billion euro to the EU budget, said the acting Minister of Investments and European Projects, Dragoș Pîslaru, on Saturday.
“Several important things overlap. First of all, today is Europe Day. Happy birthday, Europe! Happy birthday, Romania! To be Romanian means to be European. European values are Romanian values. Romania, since it became a modern state, has been European and anyone who tries to suggest anything else means that they neither know history nor understand the importance of these values for the future. At this moment, when we are discussing unity in diversity, my message is not to have the discussion about the European Union as dividing society, but rather precisely to recognize that precisely the debate, precisely diversity, are some of the most important European values. But I was saying that two things overlap: European values, Europe Day, with the anniversary of the National Youth Day, which was last week, and what better place to discuss Europe and the future of Europe than in The Youth, this youth center, which is financed from European funds through the European Social Fund Plus. There are 32 such centers already built and another generation is coming and it is very “It is important to see here how this space is made by young people, for young people and completely aligned with the desire to have a generation that comes much closer and contributes directly to the present of European construction, not only to a distant future,” said Dragoș Pîslaru, according to Agerpres.
He also highlighted, in this context, the role of European funds in Romania’s economic growth.
“We have clear mathematics, because there are many figures being circulated and I want to clarify this. Romania attracted 108 billion euros and contributed 36 to the community budget. So we are talking about over 72 billion euros net for Romania and I will tell you one more thing: we entered at 44% of the European Union average GDP per capita at purchasing power parity, and now we are at over 80%. We have surpassed other countries in this process, such as the Czech Republic, Portugal, Greece, and these things make us a success story at the European level. So today, when we celebrate Europe, today we celebrate Romania’s success story in Europe. In fact, that is what it is about”, stressed Dragoș Pîslaru.